S.A. girl, 13, wins national scholarship

Updated 12:10 am, Friday, August 2, 2013

Jayci Derby, 12, launched a campaign to ensure that veterans' graves don't go without the recognition of a wreath last year at the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.

Jayci Derby, 12, launched a campaign to ensure that veterans' graves don't go without the recognition of a wreath last year at the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.

Photo: File Photo

S.A. girl, 13, wins national scholarship

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When Jayci Derby was 11, her family visited Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery to lay a wreath on her grandfather's gravestone. She noticed most gravestones didn't have wreaths and decided to change that.

Her passion for that cause led her to raise $18,000 in two years, and Jayci this week became one of 10 students nationwide awarded $10,000 for college by the Kohl's Cares Scholarship Program.

The retailer honored her for starting Jayci's Wreaths for Heroes, which works to decorate graves during National Wreath Day in December for “all of the fallen heroes at Fort Sam,” she said.

Jayci, now 13, said she hopes to one day raise enough to provide wreaths for the more than 130,000 veterans buried at the cemetery.

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“I'm truly honored and amazed that I was the winner,” she said. “You know how some people climb mountains? This is kind of like it but honoring heroes is like my mountain, and I won't stop until I reach the top.”

Kohl's also will donate $1,000 to the nonprofit organization of Derby's choice — and she selected Wreaths Across America, an organization that works to provide wreaths for veterans' graves nationwide.

Jayci has written letters to businesses, visited restaurants and has asked owners to donate. She uses social media, including her own website, to spread the word.

“The scholarship is very well deserved,” said Mike Rowland, chairman of the military affairs committee of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, who met Jayci at a military transformation taskforce meeting with city officials. “But just like Jayci says, she's not doing this to get rewards or attention to herself, other than the fact of trying to get wreaths on Fort Sam gravestones.”

Jayci said she's interested in biochemistry but isn't sure where she'll attend college.

“I still have time to choose,” she said.

For information about Jayci's Wreaths for Heroes, visit wreathsforheroes.org.